I couldn't resist. Gloatable. HAD to buy it. All metal in excellent
condition, new(er) tires, lights, wiring all in tip-top
condition...BUT....
The previous owner had built a box from??
..
..
..
wait for it
..
..
..
flake board. (OSB without the nice binders..like cheap, aspenite)
It appears to have started out at 3/4", now WELL over 1 1/2".. swollen
somewhat..and totally delaminated.
The whole box came apart with a snow shovel.
Now... for new material. What do we like? (No, Lew, NOT mahogany marine
ply G)

I'm open to suggestions, even those including a painted finish of some
sort. Doesn't have to be pretty.

TIA!

r

MDO. Tom
Robatoy wrote:
I couldn't resist. Gloatable. HAD to buy it. All metal in excellent
condition, new(er) tires, lights, wiring all in tip-top
condition...BUT....
The previous owner had built a box from??
.
.
.
wait for it
.
.
.
flake board. (OSB without the nice binders..like cheap, aspenite)
It appears to have started out at 3/4", now WELL over 1 1/2".. swollen
somewhat..and totally delaminated.
The whole box came apart with a snow shovel.
Now... for new material. What do we like? (No, Lew, NOT mahogany marine
ply G)

I'm open to suggestions, even those including a painted finish of some
sort. Doesn't have to be pretty.

TIA!

r

T-111 siding

Robatoy wrote:
I couldn't resist. Gloatable. HAD to buy it. All metal in excellent
condition, new(er) tires, lights, wiring all in tip-top
condition...BUT....
The previous owner had built a box from??
.
.
.
wait for it
.
.
.
flake board. (OSB without the nice binders..like cheap, aspenite)
It appears to have started out at 3/4", now WELL over 1 1/2".. swollen
somewhat..and totally delaminated.
The whole box came apart with a snow shovel.
Now... for new material. What do we like? (No, Lew, NOT mahogany marine
ply G)

I'm open to suggestions, even those including a painted finish of some
sort. Doesn't have to be pretty.

TIA!

r

Robatoy wrote:
I'm open to suggestions, even those including a painted finish of some
sort. Doesn't have to be pretty.

Really nice near-marine ply, with a weatherproof plastic laminate on
each side.

Cheap too - it comes from the scrapyard where they break truck trailers.

"Robatoy" wrote in message
ups.com...
I couldn't resist. Gloatable. HAD to buy it. All metal in excellent
condition, new(er) tires, lights, wiring all in tip-top
condition...BUT....
The previous owner had built a box from??
.
.
.
wait for it
.
.
.
flake board. (OSB without the nice binders..like cheap, aspenite)
It appears to have started out at 3/4", now WELL over 1 1/2".. swollen
somewhat..and totally delaminated.
The whole box came apart with a snow shovel.
Now... for new material. What do we like? (No, Lew, NOT mahogany marine
ply G)

I'm open to suggestions, even those including a painted finish of some
sort. Doesn't have to be pretty.

TIA!

r


Painted CDX. I've had mine on a little trailer for 5+ years. Left outside
daily. Still solid.
If you want a bullet proof bed, and hate money, Ipe.

Dave



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And my big mouth says . . . why a 'box' ??

Sounds like it becomes a 'permanent fixture' so that when traveling empty is
causes drag and kills the gas mileage {YES - I'm a cheap SOB !!}.

I have 2 of those utility trailers. The 'big' one uses a 4x8 ply sheet as a
bed, and folds for storage. Rather then cut the ply, I spend a few more
minutes and un-bolt the bed before folding. I like the extra support of the
full sheet, and I like the foldability that allows storage against the
outside wall of the shop. The ply goes behind it and a 'Green Tarp' goes
over all.

While I couldn't do that with a 'box' on it, sometimes it is nice when you
need to move bulk material, or things that 'roll' . . . like 100 and 150
pound 'Mushroom Anchors'. I used basic grade 2x4's for the upright's and #2
common 1x4's for the 'slats'. Assembled with SS screws and 'Hot Galvanized'
bolts, washers, & nuts. For storage, the pieces fit between the folded
trailer and the bed, up against the wall, with a 'safety cable' attached
between two eye bolts.

I did this when Joanne wanted a 2/3rds of a 'load' of garden soil - a full
load {3 'scoops'}was delivered free, anything less was $28 - minimum. A
'scoop' was about 500 lbs, she wanted two - the trailer has an 1100 lb
capacity. Made the 'cattle car' sides. Went to the garden center, 'lined'
the contraption with a cheap Blue tarp {big enough that it lapped over the
top, all around}, attached cheap, flat rubber pseudo-bungees to the
'left-long' bolts at the corners {to keep everything tight}, and told the
loader operator to, 'Fill'er Up !!'. Drove home no problem and no
'dribbles'. Even used my 'hand mover' to position the trailer so we could
get the wheelbarrow next to it {This soil was for the raised-bed veggie
garden}. Un-hooked one side and pulled it out. Tarp flopped down and
'captured' what soil gravity helped out. The rest was easy - a relative
term - we are talking about 1,000 pounds of dirt moved across the yard by
wheelbarrow . . .

Regards & Good Luck,
Ron Magen
Backyard Boatshop

{PS - the bed is a 'scrap' piece of 3/4 ply. It is still covered with glue
as it was covered with a rug and used as the top of a low 'presentation
platform'. If I had to buy something - it would be a sheet of 3/4 PT ply}

"Robatoy" wrote in message
ups.com...
I couldn't resist. Gloatable. HAD to buy it. All metal in excellent
condition, new(er) tires, lights, wiring all in tip-top
condition...BUT....
The previous owner had built a box from??
.
.
.
wait for it
.
.
.
flake board. (OSB without the nice binders..like cheap, aspenite)
It appears to have started out at 3/4", now WELL over 1 1/2".. swollen
somewhat..and totally delaminated.
The whole box came apart with a snow shovel.
Now... for new material. What do we like? (No, Lew, NOT mahogany marine
ply G)

I'm open to suggestions, even those including a painted finish of some
sort. Doesn't have to be pretty.

TIA!

r

On Wed, 18 Oct 2006 14:17:22 -0700, "Teamcasa"
wrote:


"Robatoy" wrote in message
oups.com...
I couldn't resist. Gloatable. HAD to buy it. All metal in excellent
condition, new(er) tires, lights, wiring all in tip-top
condition...BUT....
The previous owner had built a box from??
.
.
.
wait for it
.
.
.
flake board. (OSB without the nice binders..like cheap, aspenite)
It appears to have started out at 3/4", now WELL over 1 1/2".. swollen
somewhat..and totally delaminated.
The whole box came apart with a snow shovel.
Now... for new material. What do we like? (No, Lew, NOT mahogany marine
ply G)

I'm open to suggestions, even those including a painted finish of some
sort. Doesn't have to be pretty.

TIA!

r


Painted CDX. I've had mine on a little trailer for 5+ years. Left outside
daily. Still solid.
If you want a bullet proof bed, and hate money, Ipe.

Dave
That's the first thought I had as well....3/4inch
CDX....weather-proof, durable, sanded one side, reasonable price.



Posted Via Usenet.com Premium Usenet Newsgroup Services
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In article . com,
Robatoy wrote:
I couldn't resist. Gloatable. HAD to buy it. All metal in excellent
condition, new(er) tires, lights, wiring all in tip-top
condition...BUT....
The previous owner had built a box from??
.
.
.
wait for it
.
.
.
flake board. (OSB without the nice binders..like cheap, aspenite)
It appears to have started out at 3/4", now WELL over 1 1/2".. swollen
somewhat..and totally delaminated.
The whole box came apart with a snow shovel.
Now... for new material. What do we like? (No, Lew, NOT mahogany marine
ply G)

I'm open to suggestions, even those including a painted finish of some
sort. Doesn't have to be pretty.

TIA!

r


I bought an inexpensive 4X8 utility trailer about 2 years ago. It
required DIY deck and sides . Originally I wanted to use PT plywood
for the decki but HD I went to didn't have any. (Apparently not
as common as in the past?) Anyway, I just bought a sheet of exterior
BC yellow pine and a gallon of exterior deck stain from the "oops"
bin. Put the stain on top and bottom. At 2 years it is holding up
well, only thing I've done is touch up a few spots where cargo badly
gouged the plywood. Sorry I can't remember the brand of stain but I
believe I just selected what seemed to be the best quality from the
shelf; maybe something form Cuprinol or Olympia.
--
No dumb questions, just dumb answers.

Larry Wasserman - Baltimore, Maryland -

Robatoy wrote:

Now... for new material. What do we like? (No, Lew, NOT mahogany marine
ply G)


Time for some 3/4" CDX plywood, and epoxy thickened with micro-balloons.

Use the thickened epoxy to fill and repair surface defects in the CDX
(Both Sides).

All bolt holes get drilled oversize, then filled with thickened epoxy
and finally thru drilled for bolt after curing.

As a example, for a 1/4" bolt, drill a 3/4" hole thru ply, then fill
with epoxy. When cured, drill a 5/16" hole thru epoxy.

Seal with a good oil based primer followed by finish of choice.

Good for at least 10 years, even in Sarnia.

Lew

Use 3/4" pressure treated plywood. It holds up very well to water, heavy
weight, dragging something across it etc. Don't paint it, leave the surface
raw. I've had pressure treated plywood trailer bottoms last for over 15
years.

Bob
"Robatoy" wrote in message
ups.com...
I couldn't resist. Gloatable. HAD to buy it. All metal in excellent
condition, new(er) tires, lights, wiring all in tip-top
condition...BUT....
The previous owner had built a box from??
.
.
.
wait for it
.
.
.
flake board. (OSB without the nice binders..like cheap, aspenite)
It appears to have started out at 3/4", now WELL over 1 1/2".. swollen
somewhat..and totally delaminated.
The whole box came apart with a snow shovel.
Now... for new material. What do we like? (No, Lew, NOT mahogany marine
ply G)

I'm open to suggestions, even those including a painted finish of some
sort. Doesn't have to be pretty.

TIA!

r

Robatoy wrote:

The whole box came apart with a snow shovel.
Now... for new material. What do we like? (No, Lew, NOT mahogany marine
ply G)

I'm open to suggestions, even those including a painted finish of some
sort. Doesn't have to be pretty.

Some wood dealers in my area sell lower grade white oak "truck decking".

Making a floor and side frames out of white oak would be durable in all
respects. An option would be to add removable side sheathing with
exterior ply, sheet aluminum, etc...

Robatoy wrote:
I couldn't resist. Gloatable. HAD to buy it. All metal in excellent
condition, new(er) tires, lights, wiring all in tip-top
condition...BUT....
The previous owner had built a box from??
.
.
.
wait for it
.
.
.
flake board. (OSB without the nice binders..like cheap, aspenite)
It appears to have started out at 3/4", now WELL over 1 1/2".. swollen
somewhat..and totally delaminated.
The whole box came apart with a snow shovel.
Now... for new material. What do we like? (No, Lew, NOT mahogany marine
ply G)

I'm open to suggestions, even those including a painted finish of some
sort. Doesn't have to be pretty.

TIA!

r

You can get pressure treated but I would think just
regular garden variety 3/4" A/C would work just fine.

You could paint it or not....

The other choice is 5/4 decking boards which is a bigger
pain to install but will last three times longer.

The final and ultimate is PT 2x6 bolted on... they will
be there when the trailer is toast.


Robatoy wrote:
I couldn't resist. Gloatable. HAD to buy it. All metal in excellent
condition, new(er) tires, lights, wiring all in tip-top
condition...BUT....

You can get pressure treated but I would think just
regular garden variety 3/4" A/C would work just fine.

I have an inexpensive utility trailer I bought about 17 years ago. At the
time, I just bolted on standard 3/4" AC plywood. 17 years later, and it
still looks and feels solid. Very worn and abused, but solid.

On the other hand, I had built some sides out of 1/2" CDX plywood and
2x4's. Because of the trailer size and the way the sides were constructed,
I had to take the sides off the trailer to carry plywood and other sheet
goods. So, the sides sat out on the ground a lot. It only took about 5
years for them to rot away to practically nothing.

So, I rebuilt the sides with PT lumber and 1/2" PT plywood. I also built
them in a way that let me permanently attach them and still be able to
carry sheetgoods. Another 12 years or so, and they still look like the day
I built them, except for the scratches and dings from carrying things.

The final and ultimate is PT 2x6 bolted on... they will
be there when the trailer is toast.

That's my plan when my 3/4" AC floor finally goes.

Anthony

Wed, Oct 18, 2006, 1:51pm (EDT-3) (Robatoy) came in
and mumbled:
snip Gloatable. snip

What's the gloatable part?



JOAT
It's not hard, if you get your mind right.
- Granny Weatherwax

HerHusband wrote:

The final and ultimate is PT 2x6 bolted on... they will
be there when the trailer is toast.

That's my plan when my 3/4" AC floor finally goes.

Thought Apitong s/p was the wood of choice for truck beds.

Lew

Pat Barber
The final and ultimate is PT 2x6 bolted on... they will
be there when the trailer is toast.

Anthony
That's my plan when my 3/4" AC floor finally goes.

Lew Hodgett
Thought Apitong s/p was the wood of choice for truck beds.

It is. Most of the truck beds and side rails are made from Apitong. A very
strong and durable wood. Many call it Philippine Mahogany witch is
incorrect.
The absolute best (IMHO) would be Ipe. Stronger, heaver and more durable -
costs more!
But this is a utility trailer. No need for anything better than plain old
CDX and paint, and even the paint is optional.

Dave



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"SonomaProducts.com" wrote in message
oups.com...
T-111 siding


This is what I used. As cheap as it can get and the lines added some
character to the box sides. No paint or finish at all and now 5 or more
years later it is holding up great.

--
********
Bill Pounds
http://www.billpounds.com

Lew Hodgett wrote:
Robatoy wrote:

Now... for new material. What do we like? (No, Lew, NOT mahogany marine
ply G)


Time for some 3/4" CDX plywood, and epoxy thickened with micro-balloons.

Where am I going to find the time to tie all those micro strings to the
micro balloons, Lew?

nyuk

r

J T wrote:
Wed, Oct 18, 2006, 1:51pm (EDT-3) (Robatoy) came in
and mumbled:
snip Gloatable. snip

What's the gloatable part?

The price.

All good ideas. Now it's a matter of finding what I need.... for a
cheap price.


Rob----who likes the salvaged truck plywood idea, if I can find some.
PT is probably the best, but pricey.
Drilling the holes oversize and filling them with epoxy before
redrilling is a great idea.

Fri, Oct 20, 2006, 6:14am (EDT-3) (Robatoy) doth
claimeth:
The price.

If you don't state the price, it ain't gloatable.



JOAT
It's not hard, if you get your mind right.
- Granny Weatherwax

HerHusband wrote:
You can get pressure treated but I would think just
regular garden variety 3/4" A/C would work just fine.

I have an inexpensive utility trailer I bought about 17 years ago. At the
time, I just bolted on standard 3/4" AC plywood. 17 years later, and it
still looks and feels solid. Very worn and abused, but solid.

On the other hand, I had built some sides out of 1/2" CDX plywood and
2x4's. Because of the trailer size and the way the sides were constructed,
I had to take the sides off the trailer to carry plywood and other sheet
goods. So, the sides sat out on the ground a lot. It only took about 5
years for them to rot away to practically nothing.

So, I rebuilt the sides with PT lumber and 1/2" PT plywood. I also built
them in a way that let me permanently attach them and still be able to
carry sheetgoods. Another 12 years or so, and they still look like the day
I built them, except for the scratches and dings from carrying things.

The final and ultimate is PT 2x6 bolted on... they will
be there when the trailer is toast.

That's my plan when my 3/4" AC floor finally goes.

Anthony


I used 3/4 WBP for the floor in mine, and scrap garage doors for the
sides - 8ft of corrugated galvanised steel ready cut into 18in strips(?)

Bolted on with 1" roofing bolts.

Quite a bit more resilient and lighter than ply - useful in the UK since
max trailer weight (including load) on a standard car licence is 3300lbs
(1500kgs).



--
BigEgg
Hack to size. Hammer to fit. Weld to join. Grind to shape. Paint to cover.
http://www.workshop-projects.com -
Plans and free books - *Now with forum*